Saturday, November 04, 2017

Libyan mutawas shut down local comics convention

An armed group in Libya has shut down a comic book convention in the capital Tripoli because it breached the country's "morals and modesty".

Special Deterrent Forces (SDF) said they had arrested organisers of the Comic Con convention.

It said on its Facebook page that photos published on social media from the convention caused "a widespread public outpouring of criticism".

The SDF is loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord.

Ah, is that the same UN whose staffers rejected Wonder Woman as a program mascot? And if the UN has nothing to say about the current case, that says all we need to know about what they really think of freedom for comics artwork any more than any other such subject.

Eyewitnesses quoted by the Libya Herald said that more than 20 people - including organisers, participants and visitors - were detained.

Six members of the main organizing committee are reported to be still under arrest.

Organisers of the fair told the newspaper they were shocked by the actions of the SDF, especially given they had obtained official permission to stage the event.

''Some of those who were [arrested were later] released had received a beating," an organiser told the Libya Herald.

"They were told that Libya is a Muslim country not a free/liberal country."

It's almost certain the US comics medium won't condemn these mutawas (Islamic morality enforcers) for suppressing the art form, thus beggaring belief why current contributors even bother to work in the medium at all. It's also not very surprising the Libyan Islamofascists who closed the convention didn't care about the permits given; they probably did it just so they could have an excuse to cause terrible experiences for everyone involved. And all the while, the comics medium's representatives in the USA have no concern, likely because it's not local conservatives who're causing problems.